Uchiha Shisui sat reclined against a boulder and stretched out his legs comfortably. The sun had set hours ago but their pace never faltered as they continued travelling deep into Earth country in the cover of the night. It was only until their team leader slowed to a stop that they leapt down from the tree tops into a small clearing and found some reprieve from hours of non-stop sprinting. Shisui could not stop the sigh of relief when Kurama gestured to set up camp.

While Shisui looked for a stream to refill their canteens, his teammates wordlessly tackled other tasks. Yamato took it upon himself to gather the wood they needed for a fire (for obvious reasons) while Shiranui Genma riffled through their packs for food. Lastly, Shisui turned his eyes towards their mysterious captain who appeared to be in the middle of setting up an invisible perimeter around the clearing. Seals flashed in midair as Kurama pressed his palm on a seemingly invisible wall. Shisui has heard bits and pieces about the art of fuinjutsu and even with his limited knowledge in the area, he could tell that Kurama was clearly no amateur.

Shisui has never heard of fuinjutsu being performed this way. He was quite certain that the few scrolls in the Uchiha archives said that fuinjutsu involved the use of brushes and paper.
Shisui could only conclude that Kurama must be very skilled at the art.

Which made Shisui go back to the burning question he was sure his other two teammates were wondering about - who was Kurama? Shisui was certain he had never seen the older man in Konoha before. Did that mean Kurama was not a Konoha nin? Unless, maybe Kurama was in ANBU. Shisui was part of ANBU (though a newly minted one) but the identities of most, if not, all the ANBU members were unknown to him. As a specialised group that was formed solely to carry out missions that required anonymity, Shisui was not surprised that that was the case. But, considering their mission, anonymity was not necessary.

Rather, Shisui believed that Konoha would want the other hidden villages to know who were responsible for capturing or killing one of the most dangerous missing-nins.
None of them but Kurama was masked.

Shisui blinked as it dawned on him. It was Kurama's identity that needed to be kept secret.

But why?

Shisui shook his head. All this thinking gave him a headache. All he was doing was running around in circles.
He decided to leave it for now. He recalled how Genma seemed quite at ease with Kurama and if the Hokage trusted this man to lead them on such an important mission, then who was Shisui to question that?

Instead, his thoughts went back to the Uchiha clan.

He has noticed the air of unease and tension back at the main house. He saw members whispering and clan elders meeting more frequently than usual.
Something was brewing and Shisui knew it was only a matter of time before things hit the fan. Then, the rift between the Uchiha and the village cannot be bridged again.

He was torn.

He loved his clan, his family, his blood but he has seen the greed for power consume many Uchihas. He has seen how his father has become a shadow of himself. There is a heaviness to his shoulders now. His father did not agree with many of the clan's decisions but he had no power to change them.

On the other hand, he has sworn his allegiance to his village from the moment he became a shinobi. And over time, he has grown to love its people. There was life in the village, a sense of light-heartedness in its people during festivities whereas the Uchiha clan were more serious and locked in its traditional ways.

Shisui was torn - he did not know what to do to salvage whatever relations his clan had with the village. He had no one to turn to in his clan. All the clan elders were set in their way and he was merely a child in their eyes. His words held no sway. The only other person, besides his father who sought for change was his cousin, Itachi.

Shisui recalled how Itachi had came to him after the Hokage had summoned him to his office and relayed to Shisui what had happened.

"Uchiha-kun, thank you for coming."

The Hokage looked tired but there was something grandfatherly about his voice that made Itachi unconsciously relax as the Hokage's eyes crinkled.

"There is something I would like to propo- Ah," the Sandaime turned his eyes to the door as it clicked open. There was a smile to his lips when the Hokage beckoned for the person to come in.

"I believe it will be better for you to explain everything, Kurama-kun."

The sound of footsteps reached Itachi's ears as he slowly turned around to face the stranger. Itachi's first thoughts when his eyes landed on the other man was bright.

The man had short hair the colour of the sun and eyes a shade darker than the colour of the sky. A scar ran down the man's right cheek to his jaw. Dressed in standard black shinobi clothes, Kurama stood tall with a small smile as he regarded Itachi.

Itachi was taken aback by the smile on the other's face. No one has ever smiled at him when they first meet him. Instructors were stern while other children stretched their mouths into jealous snarls or they gave him fearful looks. His father never smiled at him although his mother would give him small smiles every now and then when he came home from missions. The only people who were genuinely happy to see him were Shisui and his brother, Sasuke.

But this man … a genuine smile graced the other's lips and he seemed happy to see Itachi.

"Uchiha-kun."

The older man's voice brought Itachi back to reality. Looking up, Itachi saw a flicker of a shadow that momentarily haunted the other's eyes before it disappeared. What was that? Itachi thought. It looked like the other was in pain.

"Congratulations on passing your chunin exams last month."

Itachi blinked, surprised. He must have been caught staring because Kurama chuckled in amusement. Charcoal eyes flickered to the Sandaime who had been silent so far and Itachi saw the Hokage fail to hide a smile.

Turning back to Kurama and concealing his slight confusion, Itachi murmured a polite thank you.

Kurama went on to propose a spar between Itachi and Hatake Kakashi.
"He is an ANBU captain and as he is not an Uchiha, I believe a spar between the two of you would prove to be interesting." Kurama grinned, and Itachi sensed there was something more to it than that.

Itachi has heard much about Hatake Kakashi. He was given the sharingan from Uchiha Obito before the latter died. For someone outside the clan to wield their kekkei genkai was unheard of. Itachi mentally frowned as he recalled the outrage when the clan elders realised there was nothing they could do. The Hokage had decided that as Uchiha Obito gave his sharingan willingly to his teammate, they could not take it back.

Itachi has heard of Kakashi's reputation as a prodigious shinobi even before he was given the sharingan. Others had high expectations of the son of Konoha's White Fang and Kakashi probably had to shoulder those expectations throughout his life.

Itachi reflected how he and Kakashi were alike in that regard.

Kurama must have seen the conflict on Itachi's face because the other man merely nodded.
"Take some time to think about it, Uchiha-kun."

They soon left the Hokage's office and with a bow to the Sandaime, Itachi closed the door quietly behind him. Itachi made to bid farewell to Kurama who was standing silently in the corridor.

"Thank you for the offer, Kurama-san. I will give you a reply by the end of the week."

Kurama was silent and Itachi noted how the shadows in his eyes were back as the other man seemed distracted.

Stepping away to leave, Itachi was halted by a warm grip on his shoulder.

Itachi looked up at Kurama, who did not speak for a moment.

Kurama's eyes slipped closed before they opened and Itachi was surprised by the conviction in those blue depths.

"You are not alone, Itachi-kun."

Itachi's breath hitched and wide eyes met grim ones.

Just before the other man's grip slackened, Kurama leaned in to whisper.

"Beware of Shimura Danzo."

Shisui found himself watching his taichou whenever he had the chance. Right now, Kurama was twirling a kunai in his hand with practiced ease as his head was tilted up towards the sky, the blasted mask still on. Like Shisui, Kurama was leaning against a boulder.

Turning away, Shisui closed his eyes.

Shimura Danzo …

Shisui wanted to know what Kurama knew about the Konoha elder. Did he know about … Root? That despite the Yondaime's best efforts, Danzo managed to salvage some of its operatives and hid them underground?

Before the elder approached him a month ago, Shisui knew nothing about Danzo and Root.

"Uchiha Shisui."
Shisui tensed, ready to flicker out of there if need be.

Regardless of the elder's underhand methods which were made known to Shisui by his father, Danzo was still an elder and Shisui sketched a bow.
"Shimura-sama."

Danzo regarded him for a moment and Shisui took that opportunity to note the swaths of bandage around the elder's right eye and the bit of white bandage around his right hand. Shisui frowned slightly, the elder was injured?

"Your potential should not go to waste. Serve your village, Uchiha Shisui, as an undercover operative."
Undercover operative? Shisui hid his confusion, did Danzo mean ANBU? But Shisui made ANBU a month ago and as an elder, Shisui was certain Danzo knew that. Unless ...
His eyes widened. It was an invitation to join Root, in not so many words.

Danzo must have seen the comprehension flicker across his face because he turned away.
"Think about it."
Then, Danzo disappeared and Shisui was left standing alone in the dark alleyway.

Shisui struggled to fall asleep even though the sound of fire crackling was usually enough to clear his mind and lull him to sleep. The thought that it was only a matter of time before Danzo approached him again, but this time it would not be an invitation plagued him.

He needed to tell someone.

The Hokage? No, the Sandaime was busy. A year has passed but the Kyuubi attack had devastated the village and restoration process was not yet complete. Besides, he was not sure that the Hokage would believe him if Shisui told him that Root was still active. Danzo was discrete so he doubted that Hokage knew.

He could not go to his clan. If the elders found out that Danzo, one of the village's elder and one of Hokage's advisors was seeking to bring the sharingan into Root, there was no way they would sit still and not raise hell. Going to his clan was too risky, it was likely everything would backfire and the Uchiha clan would become even more hostile to the village. No, Shisui would not risk that.

That left only one person.

This unknown nin, Kurama, who seemed to be aware of Danzo's character and warned Itachi of him.

Shisui made up his mind.

He would tell Kurama after the mission.

Yamato folded his arms behind his head as he laid on the ground and closed his eyes. His teammates were silent and only the sound of the fire crackling could be heard. The forest was quiet too, he wondered if the cicadas and insects were hiding.

Even now when they are in Earth country and probably only a few days away from reaching their target, Yamato could not believe that he was on this mission. He was on a mission to capture Orochimaru.

When he had stood next to the Shiranui Genma, who he knew was in ABU and Uchiha Shisui, a well known genius even for among the Uchiha, and the Hokage was briefing them on their mission, Yamato could hardly breathe.

Just the name Orochimaru sent his mind to dark places. Yamato had stood frozen, the Sandaime's words washed over him and he felt like he was submerged in water because his voice sounded muffled and unclear.

Only his ANBU training kept him grounded to the present but later, when he was back in his small apartment packing his gear, Yamato could not stop the memories from rushing back.

Being stuck in some kind of tank filled with green liquid, he wasn't sure if he had being conscious or not. He remembered other tanks with children in them. And he remembered his face. Those eyes narrowed into slits, observing him clinically before turning away. Then, there was nothing. Darkness.

He had no idea how much time had passed before there was a loud explosion and there was a rush of footsteps.
Yamato opened his eyes slightly and saw ten or so Konoha nin surrounding one man.

"Che, what a failure," Orochimaru swept his eyes around the room before forming some hand seals and disappeared.
Some of the shinobi gave chase but it was futile. He was gone.

Most of the tanks were broken and the children within them dead, their bodies broken. The shinobi examined the room, collecting papers of research and retrieving the dead children with careful hands.

When one of the shinobi stepped before his tank, Yamato opened his eyes fully and he opened his mouth to call out for help when he choked. Bubbles rose to the top of the tank.

"Taichou! We've got a survivor!" The shinobi called out in surprise.

Yamato felt the vibrations as someone was trying to break the glass tank but before he could find out if they were successful, darkness took him.

He had woke up later in a room. Everything was white - the walls, the linen, the chair beside his bed. A woman came in, also dressed in white and Yamato realised she was a nurse and he was in a hospital.

He had been unconscious for five days. No one had any idea how long Orochimaru had him for. He was an orphan.

Later in the day, an old man came to visit him. Yamato quickly sat up when he realised it was the Hokage.

"There is no need for that, my boy."
The Hokage lifted his hands up and gestured for Yamato to stay in bed.

Sandaime's eyes were filled with sorrow and grief when he sat in the white chair and placed his hand over Yamato's much smaller one.
"I am so sorry for what you had to go through, my child," the Hokage's voice cracked.

Yamato was speechless as the Hokage sat with his head bowed and something wet splashed onto his hand.

"I am so sorry."

Yamato shifted his hand so his palm was up and lightly squeezed the older man's hand.

His movements faltered as Yamato recalled how defeated the Hokage had looked that day. Yamato packed the last of his kunai before lifting his palm up. He had later found out that Orochimaru had been the Hokage's student and a part of him wanted to blame the Hokage for the horrors that Orochimaru put them through. All the children had died, except him. He remembered hearing them scream and cry for mercy. But as he grew and came to know his village once again, Yamato was thankful.

The Hokage had given him the choice to become a shinobi or to step away from all the horrors he went through and live the rest of his life as a civilian. And when Yamato had chosen to become shinobi, the Hokage had smiled with sadness.

Guilt still lingered in those eyes when the Hokage regarded him and years later, when he offered him a place in ANBU.
Yamato had accepted.

Before he left, Yamato turned to the Sandaime.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." You saved me that day, went unsaid.

With a bow, he left, but not before he caught the surprise on the other man's face.

And when the Hokage summoned him for this mission, it was no longer guilt that haunted the other's eyes but pride. At that, Yamato gave the Hokage a small nod.
An understanding had come between the two and Yamato was glad.

Now, there was one last thing he needed to do for both himself and the Sandaime.

With his team, Yamato resolved to capture the Sannin once and for all.

Kurama opened his eyes to see Genma about to nudge him awake. Giving the other man a nod to say that he was up, Kurama sat up as Genma went back to the tree trunk he was leaning against and shut his eyes. Even though Kurama could sense that there were no chakra signals in the area, he did not want to chance an attack during the night so he had set up sentinel duty.

Kurama's eyes swept over the clearing and took note of his other two teammates who were fast asleep.

While Shisui had his back to the boulder he was leaning against last night, he must have shifted positions some time during the night because he was now laying on his side with his arms across his chest and his legs were folded so that his knees were close to his chest. His face was pinched, as if he was having a bad dream.

On the other hand, Yamato was sleeping straight with his back against the ground and his arms to his side. Kurama lifted a brow. How the younger nin managed to fall asleep and stay in that position was beyond his comprehension.

Rolling his shoulders, Kurama took this chance to unclip his mask now that none of his teammates were awake. Well, only Genma has seen him unmasked.

Smiling as the breeze cooled his face, Kurama closed his eyes.

Battling Orochimaru was going to be a pain in the ass. The only consolation was that this Orochimaru was much younger than the one he faced in his time but Kurama knew better than to underestimate the Sannin. He was even more dangerous when cornered.

They only had one chance to ambush him. It was likely that at this point, Orochimaru had Kabuto with him but has yet to join the Akatsuki. It was a good thing then to get him now, before he joined Akatsuki and partnered with Sasori who Kurama would rather not deal with right now.

They needed to get Orochimaru now, or else the snake would know that they were after him and be on his guard from then on. Ideally, Kurama didn't want to drag this out longer than necessary.

He was on a strict timeline.

After Orochimaru, Kurama has to focus on preventing the Uchiha massacre.

At the moment, Itachi was eleven which meant he had two years to do something. Kurama wasn't sure if talks of a coup was already happening.

He hoped he wasn't too late. All he could do now was hope that Kakashi and Itachi's training sessions were underway.

He didn't know when Danzo would make a move to steal Shisui's sharingan, which would spark Itachi's rift from this clan.

Kurama sighed. There were too many unknowns.

He was glad he got Shisui out of Konoha and away from Danzo's clutches. At least this gave him time to think about the original timeline.

It was likely that Shisui already knew about the tension in his clan and the risk of a coup.

Glancing at the shinobi in question, Kurama was once again surprised by how young Shisui was.

Such responsibility for a fourteen year old.

Shisui was probably thinking of ways to prevent the possibility of a coup. Sooner or later, Kurama was certain his thoughts would turn to his mangekyo sharingan and the plan to manipulate the elders with genjutsu.

A lifetime ago, Kurama would have fought strongly against such a plan. He would never consent to the idea of taking away someone's free will and manipulating it to align with his own agenda. But, Kurama was a different man now. He had seen how sometimes, sacrifices must be made to ensure the safety of his precious people.

This Kurama believed Shisui's plan was sound. To be perfectly honest, he thought it was ingenious.

It was too bad that the Danzo of his time had come to the same conclusion and sought measures against being manipulated in the same way. Kurama wondered why Danzo believed himself to be in danger of being held under Shisui's genjutsu.

It must be that Shisui was aware of something Danzo planned to do against the village. In which case, Kurama must speak to Shisui about Danzo before the Uchiha returns to Konoha and the same turn of events occur again.

But, first thing's first. Orochimaru.

For this mission to be a success, Kurama needed to make use of his team's strengths.

Genma would be able to hold his own. Having been part of the Yondaime's personal guard and well-rounded ANBU operative, Kurama was not worried about him.

While Yamato has been in ANBU for a year or two now, Kurama had no idea how skilled he was with his mokuton. His time's Yamato was a thirty-something year old veteran and immensely skilled with the First's techniques but this Yamato was only around fifteen years old. Somehow Kurama had to find an opportunity to gauge the other's skills before they ambush Orochimaru.

While initially undecided about the other's mentality and resolve against Orochimaru, Kurama had noted how Yamato seemed more sure of himself as the days went by. He has heard from the Sandaime about his history with Yamato and the Hokage himself thought the younger nin mentally prepared to face the man responsible for his childhood trauma.

So, it was only his skill with mokuten that needed to be ascertained.

Finally, Shisui.

Kurama was slightly apprehensive about the risk of taking an Uchiha to confront Orochimaru.

He was well aware of the Sannin's obsession with the sharingan so Kurama had to be careful. If he lost Shisui to Orochimaru, the consequences would be dire.

Not only would Orochimaru gain the sharingan, and a powerful set at that, Kurama could not even imagine how the Uchiha clan would react to having one of their own lost to the shifty Sannin of all people. No doubt it would speed up the events leading up to the coup and all his work with Kakashi and Itachi would go down the drain.

And there was no way Kurama would let Orochimaru get his slimy hands on Shisui.

There was no way Kurama would subject the Uchiha to that.

Travelling with his team these few days has awoken something deep within him.

He had missed this. The camaraderie, the rush of adrenaline as his team, Team 7, tackled every mission with fervor.

This team was not Team 7 but it was his team nonetheless and Kurama has grown fond of them.

The first day he had missed Kakashi and his thoughts went to the silver haired nin, wondering how the other was coping with Itachi.

While thoughts of the other still lingered in his mind, Kurama found himself more and more invested in this team as the days went by.

He began noticing each of their quirks - the ever present senbon in Gemna's mouth even when the other slept, the way Shisui was at times distracted (by thoughts of his clan, no doubt) and other times cheerfully chatting away, and Yamato who no longer seemed as stoic as before, who has begun to open up and respond to questions the other two had for him.

And Kurama? Kurama allowed a smile to linger on his lips, hidden by his mask as he led the way.

Perhaps, it was time. He was a walking reservoir of secrets. Maybe it was time to let one or two of those secrets go.

Mind made up, Kurama waited for his teammates to wake up.

He didn't have to wait long for when dawn broke and shafts of light filtered through the gaps between the trees, the sounds of blanket rustling reached his ears.

With his eyes closed and head tipped back against the tree, Kurama did not reach for his mask on the ground beside him.

A/N. This fic is definitely AU because it's been years since I've watched Naruto and I haven't kept up with the manga either. My timeline is definitely not canon (having to age up or de-age some characters to make things a tad more realistic). Also some events either happen earlier than canon, or aren't canon at all. (For example, I don't think Danzo ever approached Shisui to join Root - I definitely made that up, and Genma was never in ANBU I believe).

To clear up some confusion, these are the ages of the characters:

Kurama (26/27)

Kakashi (17)

Genma (20)

Shisui (14)

Itachi (11)

Yamato (15)

Another note - right now, things in the Uchiha clan are tense. It's still 2 years before the massacre happens in canon - there are talks about a coup but it's only at its early stages and both Itachi and Shisui aren't fully aware of it. They know something's up and that the clan is straying from the village but nothing concrete.